Around the world, many people live with the burden of not knowing from where their next meal will come. I grew up in Chicago, and although I did not realize it at the time, food insecurity was a very real struggle for many of my peers. In 2014, 338,000 students in the Chicago Public Schools system qualified for free or reduced school lunches. This was enough for the school district to begin offering free breakfast and lunch to all of its students.

Hundreds of high school students are filling the stock pavilion, over 60 volunteers are getting classrooms ready, making sure the long line of pizzas are ready to feed a hungry crowd or checking in the busloads of FFA Greenhands and their advisors, and a committee of conference planners waits excitedly for all of their hard work to unfold.

Coming to the University of Illinois, I was accepted into the College of ACES as Undeclared; however, I had an idea that I wanted to point in the animal science direction. The only thing that was unclear for me was what my concentration would be in. Would it be pre-vet, companion animals and equine science, or food animal production and management?

Over the past several months, students like Kayla Vittore have had to adapt to ever-changing requirements and restrictions due to COVID-19. While these rules can be difficult to adapt to when working with other people, the situation is much easier for budding scientists like Kayla who work with non-human organisms likes plants and bacteria.

Back in May, student Veronica Casey was thrilled to learn she had received an undergraduate summer research fellowship from the American Society for Plant Biologists (ASPB-SURF) to fund her research project on the spread of copper resistance by bacterial pathogens of tomato and pepper plants.

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. – Aesop

People may often hear those working in philanthropy saying, “No gift is too small.” As trite as Aesop’s quote and a fundraiser’s conviction might sound, this time of year reminds us all efforts do make a difference.

My name is Madison Mitchell and I am from Mahomet, IL. For those of you who are familiar with the Champaign-Urbana area and know Mahomet is 15 miles west of campus, you may be wondering why I chose to attend a school practically in my backyard. Here are a few of the “whys” that were pretty influential: The 15:1 Student/Faculty Ratio, $3.5M dollars awarded in ACES Scholarships, 80% participation rate in experiential learning, a 77% four-year graduation rate, 94% employed or continuing graduation, and having 7 family members graduate from the College of ACES before me.

In 2014, I walked through the University of Illinois campus for the first time. While here, my 14-year-old self took a silly photo next to a pile of trash (pictured above). Little did I know this would foreshadow what was in store for me just a few years down the road. In sharing my “trash” journey, I hope to provide a few words of wisdom and inspire my fellow students to take action on campus.

Tip #1: Get involved on campus!

March 2020 is imprinted clearly in my mind. I was on edge because I was the last of my friends from home who found out how my school was going to handle the COVID-19 situation after spring break. I remember thinking, “There’s no way the school is going to cancel in-person classes for the entire semester.” As cases began to rise and everyone collectively realized how serious this virus was, however, it became increasingly clear that school would not be able to resume normally after spring break.

For 10 years I have tried to visit the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Palmira, Colombia, yet it still eludes me. Who would’ve thought a global pandemic would be the latest obstacle to my desire?